Lamont Lyrics

Soprano Teresa Castillo has graced the stage of Carnegie Hall multiple times, including in the debut of a work by Lamont alumnus Kevin Padworski and with renowned conductor and composer John Rutter.

Senior percussionist Tommy Dainko is the unassuming type. One would never know that last spring he received Lamont’s highest student honor, the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award, which recognizes outstanding musical and academic merit.

Student conductor Héctor Jardón's parents come from Toluca, Mexico, about an hour west of Mexico City, where both grew up. Music runs in the family: His father Héctor Jardón Tapia is a singer and guitarist, and his mother Laura Lucero Rodriguez's father was a musician who sang and played the violin.

A Lamont Chorale and journalism student's admiration for 2021 American Prize-winner Catherine Sailer led to a PBS Colorado Voices story and video.

Story & video courtesy of DU graduate Grace Ganz and Rocky Mountain PBS.

Ever wonder how Lamont was able to produce 230 events in one year in the middle of a pandemic? The leader behind that miracle was Maddy Kuhl, Lamont’s Concert Production and Facilities Manager.

Denver natives and childhood sweethearts, Jan & Gary Friedland have supported Lamont for decades and even were there to help create our donor group – The Lamont Society.

The new Distinguished Alumni Award was created exclusively for Lamont by prestigious Bennett Awards. The gold plated, cast pewter, Lamont "L" stands six inches tall and sits on a wood block chosen to match the oak used in the Newman Center. The award will be presented to each of our three distinguished graduates when the pandemic and their schedules allow them to visit the DU campus.

Composer, educator and university administrator Dr. Robert Yekovich has been named recipient of the 2022 Lamont School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award. He joins two other graduates who have received the school’s highest alumni honor: international opera star Hao Jiang Tian and Star Wars music editor Robert Wolff.

Lawrence Golan’s father, Joseph, did not push him into music. But when Golan waves his conductor’s baton, there’s no doubt he’s channeling the spirit of the man who served as a Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist for nearly five decades.

Note: Lawrence Golan has been named the University of Denver’s 2021 Distinguished Scholar.